Protector for shoes



Jan. 27., A1925.

J. E. HEN''HRN K PROTECTGR FOR SHOES Filed Sept. l5. 1922 JLM Patented Jan. 27,;1925.

UNIT-ED 'sintesi :rimas- E.' HEN'rHonN, .or chupan, Nnw cansar, 'AssmNon no UNITED suon Mn- PATENI" carica.

cm'mimr conromrlon, or 1 ArEnsoN, N Ew JERSEY, .A :onsomrrnnix,y or :mw

1 rnoncronron sHoEs.

. To 'whom' my Be it known that JAMES E. -HnN'rlionN, acitizen of the United States, residing at Camden, in the county of Camden and State of New Jerse ,have invented certainI Im-.

provements in rotectors for Shoes, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is' a specification, like reference characters on the drawings indicating like parts in-the several iigures. 1

This invention relates to the protection of shoesv against soiling or damage during manufacture, as by the use of a covering of textile or other suitable material.

During the manufacture of many shoes,.

especially light colored shoes, it is'considered necessary to provide a (protector orc ver, to vprevent the soiling an marring oftheup per materials. Usually' a paper or cloth cover is made up approximately inthe shap' of the upper of the shoe4 and is assembled and lasted together with the upper materials. When theY shoe is finishedv such a cover is removed by tearing it down thefront and hack of the shoe and then cutting it away by a hand knife. which cuts against the top tace of the welt. This procedure involves -the discarding of the cover :after a single use, there is considerable danger of 'marring the Welt in cutting the cover :away, and the. operation of cutting it away is slow and tedious because ofthe care'required.

An object of the present invention is to facilitate the protection of shoesby obviating the above and other difficulties, hereinafter explained in det'ail.

From one point oi view, the invention may be regarded-as. comprising .a novel cover for shoes having a portion ofptex'tile material extending around adjacent its bottom edge, which portion has a part having threads extending only in a direction perendicular to the edge of the cover. 4That 1s to.say,'this part of the cover is provided with the usual filling or Woof threads but has no wa threads extending parallel' to the edgel o the cover. When a cover of this construction is used in protecting 'a shoe the lastin tacks, staples, inseam stitches, or other asteners may pass through this part of the lcover and will hold it firmly in place to protect the shoe upper: During the inseam trimming operation t.e edge as is .of the cover is trimmed down'so that only the ends of these' filling' threads, caught .in the inseam or equivalent sole-attaching fastenings, hold the cover on the shoe; by this arrangement the cover may readily be pulled ot without. any further cuttinoperation when the shoe is finished, the fil ing threads pulhng out easily from the inseam which Preferably the prepared part of the cover which has its threads running in a direction perpendicular to the edge of the cover Will be strengthened by a suitable st-iffening materlal, as lfor example dried'paste or heel stain, so that it will have sufficient body to 1.

stand up during the lasting and inseaming operations.

In the illustrated construction of such a cover; the ppper and 'lower parts of the cover are made separate and are connected, as for example-.by a chain-stitch seam, so that ai'- termA shoe lis finished the bottom part of the' cover may be removed 'and a new bottom portion, in ,the form of a suitable piecel of tape, substituted therefor, the u'pper part of thccover being used a plurality of times.

From another point of view my inventionA may be regarded as an improved method ot protecting shoes involvin the steps of enveloping the upper part o a shoe iu a c'over of the type described above, -and during the inseam trimming operation removing that' part of the cover which extends beyond the soy inseam and which up to'that time prevents removal of the cover Vwithout cutting. By this method of procedure, it is unnecessary to cut or tear the cover in any Way after the shoe is finished as it can readily be pulled off without the use, of any tools. The abovei and other novel aspects of my invention will be apparent from thefollowing description of "the invention as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- I Fig. 1 is a 'perspective view of a finished slice from which a cover is being removed Fig; 2' is a perspective ,view showing the prepared tape which I prefer to use, before and after the application of the stiiening material which I nd described;

i Fig. 3 is a view showing the bottom part of a, cover constructed accordingto my invention;

Fig. 4 is a cross-section of the tape-shown.

in Fig. 2 substantially on the line 4 4 in that figure; Y

Fig. 5 is" a perspective view showing the operation of inseaming a shoe, the upper ofprepared tape secured to the bottom margin of the part 10 by means of a chain-stitch seam.l A cover of this type may be assembled with the upper of a shoe by means ofsuitable clips 14er otherwise', and lasted with the upper into the position illustrated in Fig. 5, as 1s customary' .with covers previously in use. It will be recognized, however, th'at my invention is not-limited'to the use of a two-part cover such as is illustrated. The prepared tape -12 is formed in any suitable manner -with edge portions 1G of suitabletex'tilerlmaterial, such as canvas, connected by -an intermediate portion 18 which has filling or woof threads connecting the.

, two parts 16, but which is made up without any warp or longitudinal threads running parallel to the edge of the tape.

In order to give the part 1S sufficient body to enable it to stand up during the operations of lasting and inseaming a shoe, l prefer to impregnate this part of the tape with a suitable stiifening material as shown diagrammatically at 20 in Fig. 2.A This stiftenin material may bein thel forni of any suit'- able paste or liquid which on drying will sufficiently stiffen the. filling threads in the part 18 so that they will not be too-limp for convenient manipulation; in practice. I have found the usual commercial heel stain to be a satisfactory material for this purpose. The 'tape prepared as illustrated in Fig. 2 is attached to the bottom of the cover 10 by means of a chain-stitch seam 22 which can be pulled out to remove the upper part of tape 12 after the cover has been used to permit a new tape to be attached to the cover 10 so that it may be used a second time.

In using .a cover of this type, it. is assembled about the upper of a shoe and lasted simultaneously therewith asis customary with the covers heretofore in use. After the pulling-over and lasting operations the lasting tacks pass through the sf i flfening part 18 and hold the cover in place during the upper trimming operation. After the upper stapling operation, the cover is held in place by staples 24, as shown l in Fig. 5, While after the inseaming or weltattaching operation the inseam stitches 26 secure together a Welt 28, the portion 18 of the cover, an upper 30, and the sewing rib f ing longitudinally through 32 of an insole, all arranged in the usual order. As shown ih Fig. 6, during the inseam trimming operation the margin of the' upper 30 is removed, either wither without a portion of the sewing rib 32, and the cover is separated into two parts along a line passthe portion 18 to remove the lower portion 16 shown' in Fig. 3, anda part of the portion 18. Prior to the inseam trimming operation the lower portion 16 shown in Fig. 3 prevents removal of the cover, but after that operation has been performed the cover can be removed at any time without further cutting since the ,cutthreads of portion -18 'can readily be pulled out from the stitches of seam 26 and from under staples 24. v After the shoe has been prepared as illustrated in Fig. 6, an outsole 34 is attached and the shoe is finished in the usual manner. When the .shoe'reaches the packing room, otherwise ready for cleaning and packing, the cover is removed by pulling out the threads of the portion 18 as illustrated at the right-hand part of Fig; 1.- Thereafter, A if the cover has been made in two pieces as illustrated, the remainder of the portion 12 may be removed by pulling out the seam 22,'

a new piece of tapel 12 attached, and the cover sent. back for further use.

lVhile one particular maiiiier of practicing my invention has been. illustrated and described, it is not my intention to limit its scope thereby or otherwise than by the terms of the appended claims.' It is especially to be. noted that it is not limited to use with welt shoes only, although it is found convenient. to illustrate a shoe of that type in the drawing.

Having describedmy invention, what claim as new and desire t'o secure b v Letter Patent of the United States is:

1. A shoe cover adapted to conform approximately to the shape of a shoe upper ,and having its lower marginal portion comprising threads 'extending in one direction only for the reception of fastenings to se cure the cover about a shoe.

2. A shoe cover adapted toconform approximately to the shape of a shoe upper and having its lower marginal portion comprising threads extending only in a direction perpendicular to the'edge of the cover for thev reception of fastenings to secure the cover about a shoe. A

3. .A shoe cover `adapted to coliform approximately to the shape of ashoe'lipper and having its lower marginal portion comprising threads extending in one direction 'only for the reception of fastenings to secure the cover about a shoe, and a second portion beyond said threads comprising both warp and filling threads.

4. A shoe cover adapted to conform approximately to the shape of a shoe upper Q about the margin of the body part, said tape having a portion made` up of threads extending in one direction only to receive iastenings to secure the cover about a shoe.

6. A shoe cover adapted to conform approximately tothe shape of theupper of a welt shoe and having a portion arranged to receive the inseam stitches, said portion being composed solely of threads arranged to extend crosswise of the inseam.

7. A tape for use in making a shoe cover of the class described comprising two portions of textile material made up of 'Warp and fillingl threads connected by a portion having filling threads only, the connecting portion being impregnated With a stiiening material.

8. That method of protecting shoes which comprises the steps of enveloping a shoe on a last in a cover Which has aportlion made up of threads extending-fin one direction only, lasting, stapling and inseaining the shoe with the lasting tacks and the staples and the inseam stitches passing through said portion of the covei",-trimining the inseam ofthe shoe in a manner to remove the margin of the cover extending beyond said portion7 finishing the shoe, and finally removing the cover by pulling out the cut threads of said portion from the inseam stitches.

9. That method of protecting shoes which comprises the steps of enveloping a shoe on a last in a cover having a portion formed with )filling threads only, and another portion etending to the edge of the cover beyond said first portion and having both warp and filling threads, lasting and in- .seaming the shoe with fastcnings passing through said first portion, trimming the inseam of the shoe in a manner to remove said second portion and out the threads of said first portion. and then finishing thc shoe and removing the cover by pulling out the cut threads of said first portion as described.

10. That method of protecting shoes Whichfcoinprises the steps of enveloping a shoe ona last with a'f'ovcr having a portion made up of threads extending in one direction only, securing the cover in place by astenings extending through said portion and engaging the threads thereof, botI tomingv and finishing the shoeJ and then re-l moving the cover by pulling out the threads of said portion from thc fastenings holding them in place.

l1. That method of protecting shoes which comprises the steps of enveloping a shoe on a last with a cover having a first portion made up of threads extending in one direction only and a second portion beyond said first portion and extending to the edge of the cover and made up of both warp and-lilling threads, by the use of fastening means engaging only the threads of said first portion, then removing said second portion and cutting the threads of said iirst portion by a trimming "operation, bottoming and finishing the shoe and removing the cover When desired by pulling out the cut threads of said first portion engaved by the fastening means. l:

vn testimony whereof I have signed my name to this s ecificir tion. i

iAMiis n. HENTHORN 

